This year's A-level results, published today, show that there has been a decline in the number of students taking A-level computing for the eighth consecutive year.
Just 4,002 pupils studied the A-level, representing just 0.5 per cent of the total number of students.
ICT A-levels were slightly more popular, with 11,960 entries, representing 1.4 per cent of the total. However, this still lags far behind the number who studied English (10.4 per cent), maths (9.6 per cent) and biology (7.2 per cent).
In terms of their performance, 16.5 per cent of students who took computing achieved an A* or A, 65.8 per cent achieved a B, C or D, and five per cent failed the course.
In ICT, just 12.1 per cent achieved A* or A, 77.1 per cent achieved a B, C or D, and 3.7 per cent failed the course.
"The diminishing enthusiasm for computing as a school subject contrasts starkly with the ever-increasing importance of computers in all areas of life, including business, government, home and entertainment, and threatens the UK's ability to meet the workforce requirements of the knowledge economy, both now and in the future," said professor Steve Furber FRS, chair of the Royal Society.
Matthew Poyiadgi, European VP of CompTIA, added that he expects that nowhere near enough of these students will pursue a career in IT, despite the fact that the industry is crying out for talented young people.
"Part of the reason is a failure to show young people what IT has to offer. Too many 16–18 year olds think of IT as just sitting in a basement on a computer. We need to change this perception with the people who are currently making big career decisions," he said.
He added this all starts with education, and IT education in most secondary schools is not interesting or focused enough.
"IT should be about giving students an understanding of how technology works and the tools to use it in productive and creative ways. If we show students they can build and take apart computers, set up networks, and use IT in ways that is useful to them, I am confident we will see a lot more interest in the subject."
A Level Computing courses are unavailable to many students because very few colleges offer it. Most colleges offer A Level ICT instead. I estimate that around half of all A Level Computing candidates are from fee paying independent schools rather than state colleges.
There has been much criticism of the A Level Computing course as being biased towards business data processing, generally out of date, and it fails to teach many of the more technical aspects of computers, multimedia, or recent developments such as mobile computing. Read comments by Neil McBride from De Montfort University or those on the Asperger Home Education forum for more information about this. Therefore it is questionable whether A Level Computing should even be continued or whether it should be replaced by other superior courses.
I don't agree with this bit about 'sitting in a basement on a computer'. There are plenty of technically minded youngsters who are quite happy to do this and we should focus on quality rather than on quantity by trying to make a technical subject appeal to the non-technically minded masses. Look what happened to the GCSE science course when it replaced the O Levels in separate sciences. What is needed are better quality and up to date technical courses that are readily available to all.
Posted by: Riaz 11 Nov 2011
This article implies students know what computing is and make an informed choice to avoid it. The reality is:
a) Computing is usually not available as "ICT" teachers often lack the required knowledge to teach Computing
b) Students are bored silly by ICT courses designed to be passed by everyone and boost the school's league table position. These courses give the impression Computing revolves around MS Office and is a career for low achievers; hence it can be difficult to sell the subject to potential sixth formers.
If we could sort out the rubbish that goes on in years 7 to 11, the A level problem would solve itself..
Posted by: Alex 21 Aug 2011
Since the CIO are regarded as the "leaders" of IT communities is it not a failure on their part to
(a). Promote onshore models
(b). Sell the benefits of an IT career.
Where I work the IT guys are regarded as expendable "Code Monkeys" by the IT board - to be outsourced whenever possible - hardly the leadership one might expect or hope for.
Posted by: Dave 19 Aug 2011
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